During a long and unusual meeting, members of the Ogden Planning Board August 13 gave preliminary site plan approval to Green Wood Park, LLC, to construct 62 townhouse units and 14 apartment buildings (eight units each) in a development to be located near the northwest corner of Whittier Road and Westside Drive.
The vote – at the end of a meeting of more than three hours – was split: 4-2, in favor, and came after a initial vote of 3-3. Board member Linda DelRegno changed her vote after being reassured by developer Don Riley of Green Wood Park LLC/Mark IV Development Corporation, that her concerns would be accommodated before a vote on final site plan approval.
DelRegno said she was concerned over the number of townhouses in particular. “It’s too dense,” she said and requested that townhouses planned for the edges of the development be eliminated.
“We will re-work it … pulling away the townhouses,” Riley said of the site plan.
Members Mary Lou Hetzke and Tom Coburn cast the two no votes in the second vote.
Hetzke said the development could mean 400 more people residing in the neighborhood. “Four hundred people in a residential area is out of character,” she said.
Riley noted the development complies with the town’s Comprehensive Plan.
The preliminary approval was given with conditions – including that the developer must work with adjacent landowners in regard to landscaping along the perimeter of the project, and must also address concerns raised by town officials.
Town Engineer John Freel and Highway Superintendent David Widger expressed concerns over drainage issues, but Freel said those issues could be addressed with the engineer of the project.
During a public hearing which preceded the vote, all 16 people who spoke were decidedly against the project, citing traffic volume increases, concerns over drainage, loss of mature trees and privacy and light pollution from streetlights in the development.
“This is not the neighborhood all of us bought into,” one resident of Westside Drive said.
Residents who spoke live in the Whittier/Westside/Allendale area. Evelyn Riaza noted that many families have lived in the neighborhood for years. “They made Ogden what it is today,” she said. “This is so many apartments in such a small space. Security for families will be affected. Please take that into consideration.”
Another resident of Westside Drive said he has had accidents trying to back out of his driveway due to the already high traffic volumes in the area. He said it can take him several minutes to back out of his driveway on the way to work and additionally was concerned about the housing development backing up to his home. “I don’t want to look at peoples’ townhouses. I don’t want to see anybody behind me,” he said.
Town officials said the density levels are within town limits and Planning Board Chair Gary Parker noted the developer has provided a traffic study which concluded that traffic at all intersections with the development (at Whittier, Westside and Allendale) would continue to operate at an acceptable level with an increase of three seconds added to the normal delay. He explained that developers must improve drainage in the area as part of the project.
“For those who would rather view the wild,” he said of those concerned about townhouses which would back up to their properties, “I can understand.” Chairman Parker added that the developer will add landscaping to ease the change from an open, natural area to one that has housing.
Planning Board Member Marc Robinson, who voted yes, said there are already similar developments in the town. “We have approved several with the same criteria in Ogden. It isn’t new for us,” he said.
The project is expected to come before the Ogden Zoning Board as developers say they plan to request variances to reduce set-backs in the front for townhouses, something they say will help to pull the buildings farther away from neighbors adjacent to the perimeter of the development.
